Some embodiments described herein relate generally to network routing, and more particularly to switching policies for improved Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) network switching and/or routing.
Many modern networks include hardware devices and/or software (executing in hardware) configured to transfer data frames according to one or both of the Ethernet and Fibre Channel networking standards. To allow for interoperability between Ethernet and Fibre Channel resources, these networks often employ a third network protocol known as Fibre Chanel over Ethernet (“FCoE”). By encapsulating Fibre Channel frames within an FCoE frame, a network device such as an FCoE-to-Fibre Channel gateway (“FCoE gateway”) can route and/or switch Fibre Channel frames from one Fibre Chanel device to another over an Ethernet network.
FCoE gateways thus are typically capable of: (1) relaying, to a Fibre Channel device (such as a switch), a Fibre Channel frame extracted from within an FCoE frame, and (2) encapsulating a received Fibre Channel frame within an FCoE frame that can be forwarded, via an Ethernet network, to another Fibre Channel device (such as a Fibre Channel peripheral processing device). As part of its switching and.or routing responsibilities, many FCoE gateways adhere to one or more switching policies, rules or filters that dictate specific switching behavior. Many filters dictate, for example, whether an FCoE gateway should deliver, drop, or re-route a received frame based on the frame's type, format, and/or contents. Some switching policies can dictate other aspects of data-switching behavior, such as a specified delay time, use of a specified communication port for certain data types, etc.
While such filters and/or switching policies allow for more intelligent switching, storage space for these rules is sometimes limited due to scale and cost constraints. More particularly, when an FCoE gateway assigns a distinct switching policy for each pairing of a virtual port of a peripheral device and an outbound port of the FCoE gateway (to enable data transmission from the virtual port to a switch), the presence of a switching policy for each virtual port/outbound port pair can result in an inefficient use of storage space.
Thus, a need exists for methods and apparatus to reduce or minimize the number of switching policies used to route and/or direct FCoE frames from peripheral devices to Fibre Channel switches, and thereby reduce storage space concerns. A need further exists for methods and apparatus to define a destination MAC address associated with a port instantiated at a peripheral device and an outbound port of a gateway device and/or switch, thereby reducing the number of switching policies used to route and/or direct FCoE frames from a given peripheral device to a Fibre Channel switch. A need further exists for methods and apparatus to define a mapping between the port instantiated at the peripheral device and an egress (outbound) port instantiated at the gateway device and/or switch.